Update:
---
A ''severe blow to the brain stem area'' was the likely cause of death for Gizmo, a 16-year-old Yorkshire terrier reportedly kicked to death, according to an examination by state veterinarians.
The exam, results of which were released yesterday, seems to bolster an account by the dog's owner, who said he saw a man kick his dog like a football last week.
''There was nothing that definitively defined the source of the injury,'' said Dr. Ron Wilson, director of the C.E. Kord Diagnostic Laboratory at the Ellington Agricultural Center in Nashville, where the exam was conducted. ''But certainly there was nothing that disputed the story that was offered … by the owner.''
However, the exam cannot rule out that the dog was hit by a car, Wilson said. At least one person, the suspect's grandfather, has said the charges against Chad Daniel Crawford, 23, are false and that the dog could have been hit by a car.
The dog's owners, Jelani Lewis, 29, and Jessica McKenzie, 27, paid for the exam. Attempts to reach them were unsuccessful yesterday. But in a voice mail to The Tennessean, Lewis said he felt the exam results backed up his account.
Although the exam cannot rule out a car accident, Gizmo's tiny frame, which weighed just over 2 pounds, showed no signs that it was crushed by a car tire, Wilson said.
''Had we seen that, it would make unlikely the case that the animal had been kicked,'' he said. ''There was no evidence of crushing.''
The autopsy, performed by state veterinary pathologist Lani Vincent, found that the back of Gizmo's skull was crushed and that he had blood in his lungs, along with a blood clot in his liver.
It also showed the dog was well fed, had been groomed ''recently'' before death and had suffered no injuries or bruising besides what occurred in the incident leading to his death.
On Monday, Gizmo was cremated at Nashville's Faithful Friends Pet Memorial Services. Gizmo's ashes are now in a cage in his owners' living room, Lewis said in a voice-mail message yesterday.
Gizmo's death gained international attention after Lewis' report that he watched in horror as one of three men held the dog low to the ground, while another man ran forward, kicking it like a football.
The dog smacked onto the parking-lot pavement and then his body rolled underneath a parked car, the report said.
After Lewis caught Crawford, police arrested him and charged him with cruelty to animals and felony vandalism, assessed because of the dog's value.
A man who was with Crawford told police that Crawford committed the act, according to police records.
Attempts to reach Crawford have been unsuccessful. Yesterday he told WSMV-Channel 4 that he was innocent and that witnesses will come forward to corroborate his account.
In another development, Metro's animal control director said yesterday that Gizmo's owner wasn't necessarily breaking the law by letting the Yorkie outside without a leash.
''If he was in a parking lot or if he was in a grassy area adjacent to the apartment, that could be part of his property where he is living,'' Judy Ladebauche said.
State laws do not specify that pets have to be on a leash, Ladebauche said. Instead, owners must have the animals under their control. And apartment and condominium properties set their own rules and guidelines for how pets are allowed to roam.
http://www.tennessean.com/local/arch...nt_ID=49842043